Best Breakthrough Dylan Godwin in Good People (Alley Theatre)

For many past seasons, Dylan Godwin has appeared in a variety of supporting roles for numerous Houston theater companies, and we would like to honor his work. He constantly delivers, whether ominously whispering juicy slander in Amadeus; delightfully lifting the fun quotient as lost-boy Toodles in Peter Pan; displaying nerdy charm as one of the AltarBoyz; creeping us out in striped long johns and Louise Brooks wig as the weirdest of Palcontents in Ubu Roi; or wistfully engaging us with his swell singing pipes in the forgotten Sondheim ballad "I Remember" from A Little Sondheim Music. In David Lindsay-Abaire's Good People, his character sets the plot in motion by firing friend Margie from her low-paying job at the Dollar Store. A master manipulator, she tries to talk him out of it by insinuation and employee gossip. He plays bingo, you see, and that means only one thing: he's gay. The ploy doesn't work -- she's got to go or else he'll be fired too -- but the disappointment and shocked hurt that play across his puppy face say everything. It's a scene of betrayal, and Godwin works miracles with that distinctive mug and ultra-expressive eyes. Later, in an act of forgiveness, he saves the day -- and Margie's monthly rent -- by giving her his bingo winnings. Godwin plays it with embarrassed self-effacement, a perfect little moment. He's given us so many perfect little moments, we thank him and can't wait to see even bigger moments ahead for him.

Best Risk TUTS Underground

What an idea. Take over Zilkha Hall, a 500-seat downtown theater that was dark more often than not. Throw up a wine and craft beer garden right outside. Bring in edgier plays and musicals with up and coming playwrights and performers and then put ticket prices well within the reach of a younger crowd. Okay, most of these elements are employed by several mid-size theater companies throughout town, but it was TUTS Underground that pulled it all together, covered it with glamour and glitz, and made it work by adding extras such as the on-stage working pre-show bar at Murder Ballad (whose one unintended side effect, as noted by our critic Jim J. Tommaney, was that not everyone could make it through the 80-minute one-act that followed without a bathroom break). Artistic Director Bruce Lumpkin started talking about using the smaller theater and the need to appeal to younger audiences when he took over his new duties in 2012, making them a reality in 2013. The first four shows were successful enough that TUTS Underground started offering a subscription service and has already announced its second season.

Best Trooper Philip Lehl in The Winter's Tale (Stark Naked Theatre Company)

Philip Lehl, the co-founder and co-executive director of Stark Naked Theatre Company, is recognized as an authority on William Shakespeare. He can talk him, walk him and teach classes about him. All of which helped immeasurably last season when he decided to direct the little seen The Winter's Tale at Studio 101. The crew was deep into rehearsals when the actor playing not only King Leontes but the Shepherd as well had to withdraw right before the production was to open. Stark Naked pushed back the opening by a week while Lehl memorized his lines and the show opened. As our critic D. L. Groover observed at the time: "One of Houston's most admired interpreters of Shakespeare, here [Lehl] directs his first Shakespearean production, which he does with flare and an inspiring touch...Is there any line in the Bard he can not make clear and easily comprehended? His invisible craft at creating an emotion, showing it to us without fuss and moving us to tears as he does so is art at its most sublime. One of his many wonders is how much fun he has while acting. His love is infectious, and the others in the cast -- and we, too, in the audience -- take up his mission. How easy Shakespeare sounds in their capable hands." Juggling two crucial parts and a director's duties, Lehl made it look easy.

Best Costume Design Donna Southern Schmidt for Diary of Anne Frank (A.D. Players)

Costumes say many things in a play, but the two most important roles are setting the period and revealing character. Within limits, it's the director who sets the tone, so if he wants Hamlet moping on the moon, more likely than not the costumes will not be Danish Renaissance. Schmidt has been director of the costume shop at A.D. Players for many seasons, and her sharp eye and skill with a needle have always elevated their shows with taste, refinement and good judgment. Francis Goodrich and Albert Hackett's heart-wrenching period drama of a family in crisis is site-specific: WW II Amsterdam. Hiding from the Nazi invaders, the middle-class Franks take refuge in an upstairs secret annex in Frank's spice warehouse. They are everyday people whose clothes are unshowy, drab and utilitarian. Entering the apartment, they take off the outer layer to reveal another set of clothing underneath. To not attract attention as they walked through the street, they wore as much as they could so as not to carry suitcases. Nothing looks like it was just made in the costume shop; these clothes are used and somewhat threadbare. That's the way they read from the stage anyway, and it's a perfect look. Simple sweater sets or brighter day dresses for Anne and her sister, unfitted suits for the men, sombre grays for their mother, and better quality dresses and that beloved fur coat for Mrs.Van Daan, who lives above her means. She makes such a scene over that coat, her last link to her family, that we know the coat's going to come to no good. These functional costumes, so apt, serve the drama without shouting, just what great costumes should do.

Finalists: Amy Clark and Mark Moss for The Little Mermaid (Theatre Under the Stars), Claire Hummel for A Midsummer Night's Dream (Rice University), Amber Stepanik for The Breaux' Strategem (Houston Family Arts Center) and Claremarie Verheyen for The Importance of Being Earnest (Classical Theatre Company).

Best Set Design Jodi Bobrovsky for The Whipping Man (Stages Repertory Theater)

Designer Jodi Bobrovksy had quite a challenge in The Whipping Man. The story, which takes place at the end of the Civil War, is set in a southern mansion that's been sacked and ruined. She had to provide an appropriate backdrop to an emotional confrontation between three men without distracting in any way from the action on stage. Bobrovsky created ruined grandeur. Spare, but clearly indicating a past luxury and elegance, the set sufficiently fades into the background while providing a distinct ambiance (here, one of loss and regret). The world, in chaos, waits right outside the once stately doors of the mansion. Battered pillars stand guard for the almost empty mansion, overseeing the drama between a Confederate soldier and two newly freed slaves who have to face the future together.

Finalists: Mark Glover for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Stage Door, Inc.), Laura Fines Hawkes for Murder Ballad (TUTS Underground), Mark Krouskop for Little Shop of Horrors (Rice University), Mark A. Lewis for Arsenic and Old Lace (A.D. Players) and Ryan McGettigan for Doctor Faustus (Classical Theatre Company) and Middletown (Catastrophic Theatre).